Mulberry Foster Care

Your journey to become a foster carer

We are delighted that you have taken the first step in exploring Fostering and whether a Fostering Journey is right for you and your family. Like most things in life, taking the first step can be the hardest part of the journey. We hope that by explaining the process of becoming a Foster Carer in more detail will provide you with the assurance that we will be with you to support, guide and encourage every step of the journey

Become a foster carer today
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The process

  • Initial Enquiry

    All applicants start their journey with a phone call with one of fantastic recruitment leads. There are no silly questions when it comes to Fostering so please do ask as many questions as you need to ensure that you make an informed decision.

  • Application Form

    If you are willing to start the application process and you meet our requirements, we will send out an application form via email. Once this has been completed and returned to us, we will let you know if you have been successful in moving on to the next stage.

  • Initial Home Visit

    A Supervising Social Worker will come and meet with you at home to discuss your application. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to ask any further questions and for our assessor to make a determination as to whether you are able to progress to fostering. At the conclusion of this meeting, we will inform you as to whether your application can progress to assessment. If you are successful, you will be invited to ‘Skills to Foster’.

  • Assessment

    The assessment process is in depth and challenging. The process involves one of our assessors meeting with you as applicants at home over a number of sessions. Each assessment is unique but you would normally have around 8 sessions. The assessment will also involve our business support team gathering references, undertaking checks etc. This will all culminate in a report being prepared called a Form F.

  • Panel

    Once the Form F has been completed, you will receive a copy of it to make any amendments. This will then go to our panel. This is made up of at least 5 panel members who have a wealth of experience, including police, health visitors, teachers , current foster carers amongst many others. They will have the opportunity to read your report and would then meet with you and your assessor to ask any questions. At the end of this panel you will recommended to be a Foster Carer if successful

  • Agency Decision Maker (ADM)

    Whilst panel make a recommendation, the final decision lies with our ADM who has a wealth of experience within Children’s services. They will consider all of the evidence including minutes from your Panel to make their recommendation.

  • Matching

    Once you are approved as a Foster Carer, the real work can begin in terms of finding a child for you to provide a home for.

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